Chapter 5
Aurora
The next night, I sit by the kitchen island and stare at the Sertraline blister. The doctor prescribed it to stifle my PTSD, but I’m already five hours late for the appointment. This shit makes my head fog up, my libido drop to zero, and my pussy as dry as dirt in a drought.
I glance out the window at the darkening sky, at the trees swaying in the wind.
The habitual fear of everything in the world is no longer there.
I don’t need these pills at all for imaginary control, and they won’t help me with my worst nightmare anyway.
To be completely honest with myself, I absolutely don’t want anything to help me to get rid of him.
I found the strength in the morning and went to classes at the university, but I didn’t see Desire anywhere. Or Zack, but I didn’t even think about his existence as I wandered through the halls from classroom to classroom.
Kelsey and I chatted about everyday trash like it was the most ordinary day of my life before that damn kidnapping.
I smiled and nodded, but sometimes, goosebumps would run over my skin like a telltale tickle when my gaze clung to another choker around the neck of one of the princesses or a bracelet belonging to someone from Desire’s retinue. His subjects were everywhere.
It’s one o’clock in the morning, but I can’t sleep. My brain refuses to shut down the same way it did yesterday after Desire brought me home and left me alone with thoughts and a yearning to orgasm.
I haven’t slept for two days, my eyes are burning, and my nerves are stretched to their absolute limit.
Desire is right; I am terrified of him, but this panic doesn’t just stem from that.
Despair is never healthy. First, I was kidnapped by a bloody psychopath, and then his son pretended to be my savior, dragging me into his incomprehensible, sick game.
My shattered life threw me straight into Desire’s hands, and he simply caught me and wanted to play.
I have no idea how much longer this will go on, but I need his cruel game too.
I don’t want to live in despair; I want to live!
A sharp ring at the door shatters the apartment’s silence. I ignore the sound, not even flinching, and zone in on the damn pills on the countertop.
“Aurora!” Zack calls out, followed by a loud, insistent banging on the door that rattles the frame. “I know you’re here! We need to talk, urgently!”
I sigh. Why would we need to talk now? The memory of the day Zack lied to my face, claiming he was the one who pulled me out of hell, flashes before my eyes. Back then, I believed he was my savior. And now? Now, I despise him with every cell in my body.
He bangs furiously on the door, shouting something and grinding on my frayed nerves.
I get up, pull a bottle of whiskey from the cabinet, and take a heavy gulp straight from the neck.
The burning liquid slides down my throat.
Kelsey and I, of course, have had drinks at rare parties since high school, but I hardly ever drink.
And I get drunk catastrophically fast. The alcohol hits my head almost instantly.
“Rory, stop messing around! Open up!”
If Zack keeps banging like this, the complex’s security will surely come rushing over, and a huge scandal will erupt.
The management company has orders from my parents to call them immediately at the slightest suspicious situation in my apartment.
My father and brother have no idea Zack exists.
If they find out who I’ve gotten involved with, they’ll just kill him.
Honestly, I don’t feel the slightest bit sorry for him, but it definitely won’t do my mental health any good.
Slightly drunk and bolstered by false courage, I go barefoot to the entryway. I open the door, prudently having left the chain on.
“Zack, leave,” I say through the gap.
“We need to talk.” His eyes narrow, then he shoves the door hard, and the chain strains.
“I’ll call the police right now,” I say, crossing my arms, swaying slightly from the whiskey.
He laughs a vicious, barking laugh. “Go ahead, babe! You might as well call your precious family right now.”
“I will. And believe me, they’ll kill you.”
“And they’ll lock you up in a nice little asylum,” he retorts, with a venomous smirk. “Just imagine. I’m your maniac’s son, but you’re dating me.”
My heart drops like a stone. There it is—his ugly, true face without the mask of pretense.
“Not anymore,” I sneer. “I left you. I already found another guy. And guess what? He fucks like a god.” I give him a sweet, mocking smile, then flip him off. Screw you, Zack.
Well, I’m still a virgin, but I’m not exactly lying. Desire is the devil, but his fingers are divine.
“What the fuck did you say?! You bloody whore!” Zack snaps, losing what little control he has left, and slams his fist against the door.
By all logic, I should be scared, but he never really frightened me. Before, I only pitied him. Now, I just feel deep, genuine contempt.
“If I’m a whore, why didn’t you want me?” I feign surprise. “Whores are exactly your type.”
He jerks back, and for a second, I think he’s given up, but the bastard runs at the door and kicks it with his heavy boot. The metal groans pitifully, and the chain rips out with a crack.
My eyes go wide. The alcohol fog evaporates, and I dash toward the kitchen to get my phone from the island, but Zack is faster. He catches me in two strides, grabs my shoulder, spins me around, and shoves me against the wall.
“Aurora, maybe someone did fuck you yesterday,” he pants, lowering his head and looming over me with an unhinged look in his eyes. “But you’re mine. I saved you, and your life belongs to me.”
I blink at him in stunned silence. What the hell is he saying?
Yes, he thinks I don’t know about his lies, but do I really look like such a pathetic, obedient bitch that I’d forgive cheating from someone who wrapped a chain around me and shackled me to a radiator?
Seriously? So I’m supposed to faithfully love anyone at my feet just because once upon a time they deigned to pull a trigger and drag me out of a madman’s basement on a leash?
“You’ve touched what isn’t yours,” a sharp voice cuts in from the front door.
Zack flies off me, crashes to the floor with a deafening thud, and lets out a strangled howl, clutching his shattered face.
I stare wide-eyed at Desire. He’s breathing heavily, blocking me with his broad back, shaking out his knuckles after that devastating punch. How? Why is he even here? Was he driving to my place?
“Fuck! Sterling?! What the hell are you doing here?” Zack groans, trying to get up and falling back on his ass. Blood drips from his nose and lips. I sincerely hope the bones of his face are cracking.
“My girl lives here,” Desire tosses out. He steps forward, grabs Zack by the back of the head with both hands, and slams his knee into Zack’s jaw with brutal force. I hear a snap. “Look at the damn stars and memorize this.”
Zack lies sprawled on the floor. I’m frozen against the wall, rubbing the burning, raw skin on my shoulder where his fingers were gripping a second ago.
My gaze locks onto a furious Desire. Blood roars in my ears, and my cunt throbs.
I haven’t seen cruelty like this since the day I was saved.
Dark nostalgia washes over me. My Prince Harming is raging before my eyes, and I can’t look away.
First, he killed the father. Now, he’s beating the son. And they both deserved it.
“She’s not yours …” Zack spits out, with a clot of blood. He’s disoriented from the blows to his head. His body doesn’t obey him—his movements are sluggish, drunken; he tries to push up on unsteady hands, but his head lolls. “Fuck …, you can’t just show up here and take whatever you want.”
“Yeah, I can. You should know that. You’re still a member of the Kingdom. Though, that won’t last long. And you know the rules: I don’t give up what’s mine.”
He takes a short step forward and drives the toe of his boot into Zack’s ribs.
There is a dull crack. Zack lets out a strangled groan, rolls onto his side, gasping for air and coughing blood onto the floor.
Desire towers over him, hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans.
“That’s for daring to touch her.” His voice is eerily steady, no trace of anger. “Do it again, I’ll break both your legs.”
He turns away from the crumpled figure on the floor and heads toward the open door.
“Get this trash out of here. Throw him over the fence.”
Only now, through the adrenaline haze, do I notice the two massive figures in the doorway—Steve and Isaac.
They step inside, grab a limp Zack under the arms, and drag him out without ceremony.
Zack comes to, thrashing and struggling against their grip.
Isaac slams a fist into his gut, and Zack’s breath explodes out of him in a hiss, and he goes limp once again.
Something jolts through me like an electric shock.
On impulse, I step forward into their path.
Desire turns and watches me intently over his men’s shoulders.
I never want to speak to Zack again in my life.
I don’t even want to hear his voice, but I can’t let that lying bastard have the last word in this fucking goodbye scene.
Right before Desire smashed his face in, that asshole had the nerve to claim I belong to him.
I’m not his thing, and I’m not going to stand for it.
“I know it wasn’t you who saved me.” My voice is steady, cutting through the heavy air. Zack’s head twitches toward me. “Last night finally opened my eyes. You’re not my Prince Harming. Honestly, I always felt it. You’re shorter, weaker … and you’re just pathetic.”
Crossing my trembling arms over my chest, I step back toward the wall. Steve and Isaac don’t need to be told twice—they drag Zack’s body out of my apartment without delay.